Aer Lingus applies to join the BA, AA, Iberia and Finnair transatlantic joint venture

Aer Lingus submitted its legal application this week for anti-trust immunity to allow it to join the transatlantic joint venture led by IAG.

This would allow you to earn British Airways Executive Club tier points on Aer Lingus flights to the US.  You can already earn Avios, but not tier points.

At present, British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair operate their flights to and from North America as one company.  All of the money, irrespective of which airline is flown, goes into a pot and is then distributed to the four airlines under a complex formula.

Aer Lingus has now applied to join this joint venture.  This does not automatically mean that Aer Lingus will also join the oneworld alliance.  Interestingly, the application states that Aer Lingus can continue its current codeshares with JetBlue and United and in theory can add further deals on top.

There will be some changes.  Whilst you currently earn Avios flying with Aer Lingus, British Airways does not currently offer tier points in the Executive Club unless it is on a BA codeshare.  This would change if the joint venture is approved.

The full legal submission is here (link removed as document removed).  Don’t expect this to be approved rapidly, however.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.